A conventional computer system utilizes a bus for data transfer among the components of the system. A popular bus architecture is the PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus architecture, which includes numerous desirable features that are well known in the art. The PCI bus architecture is described, for example, in PCI Local Bus Specification, by the PCI Special Interest Group, 5300 N.E. Elam Young Parkway, Hillsborough, Oreg. The more recently developed CompactPCI.RTM. bus architecture is an implementation of PCI technology designed for industrial and/or embedded applications. The CompactPCI bus architecture is described in CompactPCI Specification, by PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PCIMG.RTM.), 301 Edgewater Place Suite 220, Wakefield, Mass. CompactPCI and PCIMG are registered trademarks of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group.
It would be advantageous to provide the advantages of the CompactPCI bus architecture in a highly available or fault tolerant system capable of running critical applications, such as telephone switching systems or database servers, without jeopardizing the applications with the risk of a system failure. A failure of the system processor can result in such a system failure. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a highly available and fault tolerant system provided on a CompactPCI bus architecture which can withstand a system processor failure without interrupting operation of the system.